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HBO CEO: We Partnered With Apple for HBO NOW Based on HBO GO Popularity

MLB Advanced Media is developing and hosting the app. Their CEO recently did an interview with TechCrunch:http://techcrunch.com/2015/03/23/mlbs-bob-bowman-on-streaming-all-the-things/

They're also doing a lot more than just HBO and MLB:

3/18 – Sony’s PlayStation Vue
3/18 – March Madness streaming for Turner
3/29 – Wrestlemania
4/6 – MLB Opening Day
4/12 – HBO Now debut with Game Of Thrones

So I'd be a little patient with the app ;)
 
FINALLY I don't need a dang cable company! I just cxld Comcast last week too!! Actually, HBO Now is the reason why I cut off Comcast!

Thank you HBO for freeing me from Cable TV slavery! :D

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SgtPepper12 said:
HBO NOW is ridiculously overpriced.
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It is actually not. Cable TV charges you $19.99 for HBO Go. If you have a promotion you can get it for $9.99 through Cable, but that will expire at some point.

$14.99 is a small price to pay to not have CrapCast involved. I would like to see it at $9.99, but $14.99 will not deter me. ;)
 
Moonjumper said:
HBO content is all I want that Sky offers. I'm not considering Sky just because of that.
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NowTV has Sky Atlantic. £7 a month opt in and out when you want. We've done that for Game Of Thrones, Penny Dreadful etc.

The months they aren't on we don't pay.
 
Does anybody think if you already have HBO on my cable subscription that I'll be able to get this for free just signing in like in HBO go? Not sure how much different this will be from Go.
 
HBO Go would be more popular if they let Charter Communications access it oh wait they blame Apple for that.:mad:
 
webbuzz said:
This isn't giving any rights to iTunes, it is an app, used to stream HBO content on IOS devices.

It will not "bring down" FOX.
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I didn't say it would mate. Chill. I know what the deal is. But it might make a deal for GOT in other countries such as Australia. My point was that with service providers such as Fox, they have an outdated model which is suffering because of streaming services. If this outs another nail in that dusty coffin I'm all for it. As everyone should be.
 
fitshaced said:
I didn't say it would mate. Chill. I know what the deal is. But it might make a deal for GOT in other countries such as Australia. My point was that with service providers such as Fox, they have an outdated model which is suffering because of streaming services. If this outs another nail in that dusty coffin I'm all for it. As everyone should be.
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Chill? Okay then...

Fox derangement syndrome makes the struggle real.
 
Super stoked for this, but bummed I signed up for DirecTV in Jan. We were able to get 3 free months of “Premium” channels like HBO, Showtime, etc. Which turns out to be perfect timing to opt out of their premium services and sign up directly w/ HBONow. HBONow even costs less than HBO on DirecTV. :cool:
 
Is there a list of what all is available on HBO Now?

All I get from their website is this:

HBO NOW is HBO's new standalone premium streaming service that provides instant access to every episode of every season of the best of HBO's award-winning original programming, more of the biggest and latest Hollywood hit movies, groundbreaking documentaries, sports and exclusive comedy specials.
 
citi said:
Than you just don't appreciate the content. I believe it's worth it for the documentaries and it's exclusive television programming alone. Not to mention, Tonight with John Oliver and Real Time and HBO Boxing.
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LOVE Real Time! Bill Maher is my prophet. (Yes I realize the irony there, it was intended because he and I are both atheists).
 
Cuban Missles said:
when I had cable (three years ago) they were asking $10 per month extra to add HBO and I thought it was too expensive and never added it. Now they are asking $15?

Netflix/Hulu are $8 and have a wider library.

I will wait until this comes down alot
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Depends. I watch literally every series on HBO

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mwjd299 said:
Does anyone know if apple will drop the HBO GO app once HBO NOW goes live.
Hopefully they won't since I use the service from Comcast.
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Doubtful. Like the article states, 60% of HBO GO traffic comes from apple products.
 
It is too expensive for just one channel, look at Sling.com for an excellent example of what can be done.
 
RubberShoes said:
MLB Advanced Media is developing and hosting the app. Their CEO recently did an interview with TechCrunch:http://techcrunch.com/2015/03/23/mlbs-bob-bowman-on-streaming-all-the-things/

They're also doing a lot more than just HBO and MLB:

3/18 – Sony’s PlayStation Vue
3/18 – March Madness streaming for Turner
3/29 – Wrestlemania
4/6 – MLB Opening Day
4/12 – HBO Now debut with Game Of Thrones

So I'd be a little patient with the app ;)
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Say it ain't so, Joe! The MLB TV streaming service is one of the glitchiest of all. The player constantly crashes and restarts, the streams go from brilliant HD to choppy-muddy at the blink of an eye, and MLB TV's customer service people will tell you that there's something wrong with "your system" when you ask for assistance.

Last season, I even had a customer service rep tell me that I should buy a new computer! (I run MLB TV on a 2013 MacBook Air, which meets all of the service's system requirements.)

If HBO NOW is running on the same sort of platform as MLB TV, it's more likely to be a pop fly out rather than a home run.
 
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iReality85 said:
This. At $15/month, it's a good deal. Love John Oliver too. I hope this is a sign of things to come from cable providers, but then again, HBO has always stood alone as an additional subscription service.
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It's a bad deal. At $8.99 HBO Now would still be a premium service considering the comparatively nonexistent content on the platform to Netflix or Hulu.

HBO doesn't even have to pay a cut to telcos so charging the same $15 they do in cable packages is dishonest and wholly anticompetitive and anti consumer.

Case in point: in Canada, HBO comes packaged with the entirety of The Movie Network (6 channels in SD and HD) making HBO worth exactly one sixth the price minus overhead to the telco.

They cannot explain the 15$ price of HBO Now as simply as they have been and get away with calling it a good deal.
 
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I'm paying $50 US. a month for Verizon FIOS 50mb down 50mb up.

tjdragonflight said:
Europe has cheap broadband, phone service, and TV over IP, because there is real competition happening there.

I'm still paying very little compared to bundles: $41 a month for high speed Internet (20Mb/s with Comcast) and Amazon Prime + Netflix for $15 a month. I get free HDTV for all network channels (with an antenna I put on my roof for a $400 one-time installation cost). I doubt I could find such a great offer with any existing bundle from Comcast. Even today, Comcast is a rip off.
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It's not a bad deal. You're getting premium content for the cost of going to the movies for the whole month. Entertainment costs money. Either deal with it or pay 120 dollars for your stupid cable.

mcfmullen said:
It's a bad deal. At $8.99 HBO Now would still be a premium service considering the comparatively nonexistent content on the platform to Netflix or Hulu.

HBO doesn't even have to pay a cut to telcos so charging the same $15 they do in cable packages is dishonest and wholly anticompetitive and anti consumer.

Case in point: in Canada, HBO comes packaged with the entirety of The Movie Network (6 channels in SD and HD) making HBO worth exactly one sixth the price minus overhead to the telco.

They cannot explain the 15$ price of HBO Now as simply as they have been and get away with calling it a good deal.
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you get everything that's on HBO on HBO now.

Michael Scrip said:
Is there a list of what all is available on HBO Now?

All I get from their website is this:

HBO NOW is HBO's new standalone premium streaming service that provides instant access to every episode of every season of the best of HBO's award-winning original programming, more of the biggest and latest Hollywood hit movies, groundbreaking documentaries, sports and exclusive comedy specials.
Click to expand...
 
pragmatous said:
I'm paying $50 US. a month for Verizon FIOS 50mb down 50mb up.



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It's not a bad deal. You're getting premium content for the cost of going to the movies for the whole month. Entertainment costs money. Either deal with it or pay 120 dollars for your stupid cable.



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you get everything that's on HBO on HBO now.
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It is a very bad deal when you start looking at Sling that offers many more channels and a lot more content for as little as $20 per month.
 
Drop the price to under $10 and I'll bite, HBO. With the prices that these providers are charging, it almost will be cheaper to just pay for cable rather than paying x, y, and z networks for stand-alone services.
 
It's too expensive. HBO original content is good, but not all of it is appealing. I wind up paying less and getting a better sound and video experience by cherry-picking the HBO originals I like in Blu-Ray after the fact. The rest of HBO's movie offerings is bested by Netflix or Amazon.
 
FieldingMellish said:
It's too expensive. HBO original content is good, but not all of it is appealing. I wind up paying less and getting a better sound and video experience by cherry-picking the HBO originals I like in Blu-Ray after the fact. The rest of HBO's movie offerings is bested by Netflix or Amazon.
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Seasons 1-4 of Game of Thrones on Blueray costs $150 on Amazon. You will have to wait months after the next season premiers before it's available on BlueRay.

With HBO on Apple TV, you have instant access to every episode from every season, with new episodes viewable within 24 hours of airing live. All this without the anachronistic hassle of using a BluRay player, having to endure the mandatory FBI warnings and flipping out discs every time you want to watch something different. Plus you can't watch your BluRay discs on your phone or tablet.

That's just one good show. Add Silicon Valley, John Oliver, Bill Maher, Vice, and others - not to mention blockbuster movies that aren't 20 years old - and I'd say $15/month is a pretty decent deal.

The content selection on Netflix sucks and they routinely remove some of their most popular content. The few decent TV shows available there are years behind. Aside from House of Cards I can't think of anything worth watching there. Amazon is in the same boat, save for Alpha House, which is pretty good.
 
I think the folks in the thread stating that you're only moving from one master to another (Comcast/DTV monopoly -> Internet+Pile of Streaming Services) are probably on the right track.

They are probably correct that my bill may be near or at the same total it is today.

However - I'm still thrilled to do this. I would far rather pay the same bill I do today and give it to some regional internet provider + the streaming services I enjoy than to give ALL my gd money to Comcast.

Simply put, I'd rather pay the people whose content I enjoy, than paying Comcast one more cent for horrific customer service and equipment.
 
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